I’m assuming the Chicago Bulls’ home opener is already circled on your calendar … but you might as well circle it about 12 more times.
The Bulls will welcome the Cleveland Cavaliers to the United Center on Oct. 22, meaning they will be one of the first few teams to battle the new-look roster headlined by Donovan Mitchell. Now running out three All-Stars (Mitchell, Darius Garland, Jarrett Allen) and a likely soon-to-be All-Star (Evan Mobley) in their starting lineup, Cleveland feels like a squad that could very well surpass the Bulls in the playoff race this season.
This early-season contest could tell us a lot about how much fight Chicago will have in the Central Division this season.
Look, I’m not going to sit here and pretend I’m not worried about the current state of the Eastern Conference. While the NBA fan in me loves the extremely competitive nature of things, the Bulls obsessor in me is extremely anxious about what this could mean for Chicago’s continued rise up the league ranks. I still have faith in what a fully-healthy Bulls team can do, but we also can’t ignore the roster upgrades made around the rest of the conference this summer. The Bulls are hoping that internal development can outdo the addition of individual talent, which is undoubtedly a risk.
I wrote more words on the uneasiness this Mitchell trade has created below:
We all know laughter is the best medicine, and I’ll gladly point my finger and chuckle at the New York Knicks. As worried as I am about the Cavs’ new young core, I sure don’t mind seeing the Knicks fail – yet again – to add a true superstar-caliber talent. Mitchell in New York would have just given the East another team to fret about, whereas his trade to Cleveland merely makes a pre-existing playoff threat that much better. I’ll take it!
What makes the Knicks’ failure to land Mitchell all the more humorous is that they reportedly made the best offer. Utah was clearly favoring draft capital, but were the additional pick swaps they received from Cleveland really worth a less-intriguing package of players? The Jazz welcomed back Lauri Markkanen, Ochai Agbaji, and Collin Sexton over R.J. Barrett, Obi Toppin, and Mitchell Robinson. It sure sounds like New York put the best deal on the table early on, but it just didn’t work out. Sucks to suck.
I can’t imagine Utah is done making calls. Now in full-blown rebuild mode, there is no use for veterans like Bojan Bogdanovic, Mike Conley, and Jordan Clarkson on the roster.
Goran Dragic dropped 19 points to help lift Slovenia over Lithuania on the opening day of EuroBasket 2022. The 36-year-old spoke about playing in his first game back in the tournament since 2017, and he didn’t shy away from saying how different the experience felt: “Happy,” Dragic told Eurohoops about making his return. “I’m old, I’m 36. My legs are a little bit, they aren’t the same as five years age … definitely, they’re not.”
Dragic said those words with a smile on his face, but I’d by lying if I said I wasn’t the tiniest bit worried about the impact this tourney could have on his early-season availability in the NBA. While the Bulls have plenty of options at the guard positon, Dragic feels like he could be a useful steady-hand if starting point guard Lonzo Ball isn’t ready to go. Again, there aren’t any existing injuries to worry about with Dragic at this time, but you never know how these miles might impact his legs later on. ICYMI earlier this summer: The Bulls also reportedly expressed some concern about this.
After original reports stated that Danilo Gallinari suffered nothing more than a torn meniscus while playing for Italy, the Celtics have found out that he tore his ACL. Wishing the sharpshooter a speedy recovery.
Javonte Green sat down with Stacey King and Co. on the latest Gimme the Hot Sauce Podcast for a wide-ranging discussion about his basketball career. An important role player for the team last season, Green discussed his everyday mentality and how his journey to the NBA shaped him into the hard-nosed talent we see today.
The amount of playing time Green will receive on a healthier version of this team is up for debate, especially with another high-energy wing like Dalen Terry added to the mix. Still, the 29-year-old had quite the great response when asked about potentially competing with Terry for minutes throughout the year:
“I’m not worried about that because either way I’m here to make the team better. So it doesn’t matter if he is playing or I’m playing. I’m just trying to make my little bother better. I’m not going to try to sneak or back door him, you know what I mean? That’s only going to hurt the team.”
THE RETURN OF THE FINNISHER!?
You have my attention!
Uh, so that’s huge news.
NEWSLETTER
